Everyblock Launches Local News Service
A new site called Everyblock plans to use mashups to provide local news and maps down to your very block. They blogged about the launch of their service in three cities today.
For a long time, that's been a tough question to answer. In dense, bustling cities like Chicago, New York and San Francisco, the number of daily media reports, government proceedings and local Internet conversations is staggering. Every day, a wealth of local information is created -- officials inspect restaurants, journalists cover fires and Web users post photographs -- but who has time to sort through all of that?Everyblock has launched in three American cities: Chicago, New York and San Francisco. Technology Evangelist blogs that Adrian Holovaty, the person behind the Chicago Crime website, put together the team behind Everyblock.
Our mission at EveryBlock is to solve that problem. We aim to collect all of the news and civic goings-on that have happened recently in your city, and make it simple for you to keep track of news in particular areas. We're a geographic filter -- a "news feed" for your neighborhood, or, yes, even your block.
Posted on January 23, 2008
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Yahoo Local Gets Social
Search Engine Watch reports that Yahoo is adding user generated content (UCG) to its local search tools. The feature is called Consumer Submit and it allows consumer to add notes to business listings on Yahoo Local.
Last month, Yahoo added another user-generated content feature to Local, Consumer Submit. That feature allows users to add or edit a business listing, updating contact information, store hours, or identifying businesses that are no longer open. The modifications do not change the listing permanently, but appear as notes that can be reviewed by others, who can agree or disagree and build a consensus on the accuracy of the information.LocalMN Blog provides another explanation of Consumer Submit including a graphic showing how it works. It should help make listing on Yahoo Local more useful. Yahoo's Local blog has more information about the new feature. You can also find more blog posts about the new feature here, here, here and here.
User-generated content has always been at the core of some other local search products, as well as social networking/directory hybrids such as InsiderPages, Judysbook and Yelp. IAC's Citysearch has long featured ratings and reviews, and added more social search features last year. That content is now featured more prominently in Ask.com's search results and in its new AskCity local search product.
Yahoo views these features as "social utilities" that harness the always-present offline word-of-mouth that friends and neighbors use to find a contractor, pick a restaurant, or choose a mechanic, Miller said.
Posted on January 11, 2007
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Judy's Book Combines Yellow Pages With User Reviews
SearchEngineWatch.com reports on a new yellow page website that is built with user submitted reviews called Judy's Book.
Judy's Book has local recommendations from most medium-to-large size cities in the U.S. The site is free to browse; to add a post or ask a question you need to register, but registration is free.The website is ready for entries in medium to large cities and currently features listings for Seattle, New York and the Bay Area on the homepage. The website also has social networking tools that allow members to develop relationships and form groups.
The site was inspired by a "little green book" of trusted sources kept by "Judy," the mother of one of the Judy's Book founders. The book contained a list of the best service providers in the Seattle area, according to Judy.
Posted on July 11, 2005
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